Remember when the government wanted to make everyone's homes more energy efficient? That scheme cost taxpayers £240 million, but according to the National Audit Office, it didn't really do much good in terms of carbon savings. Over a quarter of the UK's energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions are caused by housing, and making homes more…

So, gorgeous George delivered another (his 8th) Budget to the house at lunchtime today. It was more interesting than many with a few surprises up his sleeves. Here's a round up of the main points affecting you: Duties and sin taxes Oil prices have fallen so some cynics surmised that George might take advantage of…

We’re in a savings crisis. We told you so last week. Now, in an effort to divert the impending doom, the government has announced a new savings scheme which will bung up to 3.5 million people some free cash if they manage to save their pennies. Described as “part of a drive to improve the…

A committee of MPs has said that the government should think about giving some women access to their pension early, provided they accept lower weekly payments. This applies to women who have voiced their concerns about not being given enough warning that the retirement age was being increased to 66, from 60, by 2020. It…

Is your dog microchipped? If the answer is 'no', then you're among 1.5 million who haven't worked out why you'd want to insert a microchip into something that does little more than lie behind the sofa and do absolutely vicious trumps. Well, you might change your tune when you hear that, thanks to a new…

George Osborne's pension raid may be getting squashed, but that's not to say that there aren't more problems with over-50's retirement funds. Around of fifth of people over 50 years old who are currently employed, have never checked to see how much money they have in their pension pot. Another 21% said that they wouldn't…

It’s almost March and that means we’re edging ever closer to the next Budget. What Gorgeous George has tucked away inside his little red box remains to be seen, but in an attempt to divert his attentions elsewhere, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has only gone and commissioned a YouGov poll to reveal…

Councils waste all manner of money on things that the public never get to enjoy (you should see how much some councils spend on biscuits for their millions of meetings, alone!). However, the folks at Braintree council decided to spend some of the money taken from tax payers, on a joke. As you can see…

There's rumours that George Osborne is planning what is being dubbed a 'raid' on the tax-free lump sum perk which is being utilised by pensioners. Pensioners are already looking at a reduction of the principle of tax-free pension saving, with the full higher rate of tax relief being removed. Looks like the tax-free lump sum…

There's been a lot of conspiracy theorists yelling into their timelines this week, regarding Google's tax arrangements with the Conservative Party, and how the Tories come up in Google's autocomplete in searches. If you missed the chat about this, basically, if you go to Google and tap in 'Labour are', or 'Lib Dems are', you'll…

Unbelievably, there's some people who are still going on about the plastic bag charge. Seriously. Just buy a rucksack and take it down the shops with you, or whatever. Anyway, seems there's a way around this charge. The Card Factory has been dodging the 5p charge by getting rid of the handles on their carrier bags.…

Are you absolutely pig sick of roadworks? Are they a blight on your very existence? Well, someone's come up with an idea that councils should be fined £5,000-a-day, if they leave roadworks unmanned. This means that roadworks will be done over the weekends as well, but someone's clearly thinking of getting rid of needless road…

Tata Steel is about to axe 1,050 jobs, starting with 750 at the Port Talbot plant, and another 300 at other sites across the United Kingdom. This follows the 1,200 jobs the company got rid of in October, in Lanarkshire and Scunthorpe. The reports come from a source who spoke to Sky. Officially, a spokesperson said: "We have…

George Osborne is to warn of a 'dangerous cocktail' of risks from abroad, and from higher public spending on these shores, thanks to what he's calling a "dangerous cocktail". The Chancellor is worried that the UK is going to be pulled into decline thanks to economic concerns in China, Brazil or Russia, and of course, the falling…

Royal Mail has agreed to pay up £40m so they can settle a probe by competition authorities into their French arm of the business. They were among 20 delivery companies, who combined, were fined £487m for being in cahoots over price increases over a six-year period. FedEx and DHL's French firms were also involved in…